


Down in the South

by lex_kitten97



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Beware warnings, Friendship/Love, Why do I do this, based off of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003, for angst, horror movie au, i love these characters, merritt loves danny, this story is not light hearted, tis the season, tw: suicide of a minor character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-10-06
Packaged: 2018-08-11 16:10:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7899238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lex_kitten97/pseuds/lex_kitten97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Now You See Me/ Texas Chainsaw crossover AU. The Horsemen go for a road trip after Merritt wins concert tickets, but fate has other plans for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Come on Danny; I know the South isn't your cup of tea, but you're gonna have fun.”

Danny heard Merritt's words over and over in his head as he ran through the woods, screaming as loudly as he could. He swatted away branches and other obstacles as his breathing became more and more labored. His lungs burned as he yelled for help over and over; he had never been a religious person, but he was certain he must have broken a record for how many times he had called out to the sky to save him from what was following closely behind. Danny saw the highway coming into view, barely visible through his tears and the rain that had begun to fall from the sky. His torn clothes clung to him in shreds; the roar of the chainsaw was fast approaching and Danny ran faster and faster. He thought back to his only friends in the world and how he hadn't been able to save them.

It was only supposed to be a weekend of fun...

 

“ Come on Danny; I know the South isn't your cup of tea, but you're gonna have fun,” Merritt chuckled as he sat behind the wheel of his cousin's van. “You need to get away from the city anyway, you're far too uptight for your own good.”

“Yes, thank you for your input,” Danny rolled his eyes, trying to get his head as far out of the van as he could. The wind blew through his soft brown hair as they zoomed down the highway. Henley has brought a small electronic fan and was preoccupied with it while she tried to balance an ice cube on her head. Jack was already passed out in the very back with a magazine over his face. Merritt glanced in the rear view mirror to watch Danny as he relaxed; he had been harboring a crush on the younger man since they'd met at a practicing magician's cafe back in the city. He thought about how gorgeous Danny looked with the sunlight beating down on him, slight drops of sweat forming on the others face. Merritt cleared his throat and shook away the thoughts bubbling up in his ever-straying mind. 

“So Danny, have you ever even heard of Lynyrd Skynard,” Merritt prompted. The group was on their way to a concert that Merritt had won tickets to; one of his favorite music groups that the younger friends had never listened to. Danny shook his head, trying to focus on the breeze and not pass out from heat stroke. “Well what kind of music do you even listen to then?”

“I don't know, relevant music?”

“Smartass,” Merritt grumbled and popped his Skynard album into the van's player. 'Free Bird' began to play and Merritt resumed watching Danny for the next thirty miles from the rear window. 

“God, I feel like I'm going to die,” Danny moaned when the last track of the album, 'Sweet Home Alabama', began playing. “Why did I even bring jeans on this stupid trip? I gotta change, can you pull over at a rest stop?”

“Just change here you big baby!”

Danny was getting restless and stood up, turning away from Merritt and quickly stripping out of his jeans. Under his pants he was wearing a pair of form-fitting blue briefs, and Merritt's eyes turned away from the road to admire the soft swell of Danny's ass under them. Much to Merritt's satisfaction, Danny slid into jeans shorts which didn't cover much more than the briefs had. Danny slowly turned back towards him and...yelled:

“LOOK OUT!!”

Merritt looked back toward the road, where a young woman was standing directly in the center of it. “Holy shit,” he yelled, swerving to avoid her. Jack flew out of his seat and groaned, Henley had a small nip from where her fan had hit her. 

“What the hell was that,” Henley yelled, clutching at her chest. Merritt just sat there panting, gripping the wheel tightly in shock. “Maybe someone else should drive if Merritt is going to just doze off every once in a while and swerve!”

“I had to swerve; there was a girl in the road!”

“A girl? Is she okay?” Henley got up out of her seat and looked out the window. “She looks like she needs help, we should give her a lift to the nearest town or something.”

“Henley,” Danny groaned. “We are not letting a stranger into this van in the middle of fucking nowhere, okay? We can barely take care of ourselves.”

Henley huffed and opened the door, climbing out to the sound of all the boys groaning. “Hey,” she walked up to the girl calmly. “Are you okay?” The girl continued looking down at her feet, shaking her head; her eyes looked empty and distant when she finally looked up. “Do you need help?” The girl nodded, a tear visibly falling from her face and hitting the dusty ground. “I wanna go home,” she cried softly. Henley helped her into the van and sat here beside Jack in the back seat. Everyone stared back at her, unsure of what to do at that point. Danny glanced over at Henley in annoyance for letting a stranger in, but didn't say anything. 

“So where do you want us to take you,” Merritt asked calmly.

“I wanna get away,” the girl cried. “Get away from him...”

“Get away from who,” Jack asked, trying not to let the tremor in his voice show. 

The girl shook her head, beginning to sob violently and the friends looked at each other. “He's a bad man...very...very bad man...” She reached a hand between her legs slowly and Jack slid over away from her. When she pulled out a gun they all began to yell.

“What the hell are you doing,” Danny yelled. “Put it down, put it down...”

“You're all going to die...” 

She put the gun up to her head and pulled the trigger. The group heard a ringing in their own ears, feeling like they were drowning underwater. Danny had begun to hyperventilate and Merritt helped get him out of the van to throw up. Henley and Jack were already out, fanning themselves and getting away from the vehicle. 

“Oh my god, oh my god,” Henley panted. “I didn't-I didn't know....”

“Why the hell did we have to stop,” Danny yelled at Henley.

“She needed help!”

Merritt took off his hat a ran a hand over his head, taking a deep breath, “Everyone just..just breathe.” He looked over at Danny, whose whole body was trembling. “We need to get to the next town and find police of some kind, right?”

“I am NOT riding in the van with a dead body,” Danny yelled. “I will walk to town if I have to!”

“What are the police going to do,” Jack asked, unable to think. “I don't wanna go to jail!”

“They are going to get the body out of my cousin's van and help us out. Now, it doesn't help us to run around like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off,” Merritt tried to stand as the voice of reason but didn't like seeing his friends so upset either. 

“The van is a crime scene,” Danny shook his head at Merritt. “And I refuse to get back in it...”

Two minutes later, everyone was back in the van headed to town. Danny would turn around and spray an air freshener every couple seconds, rubbing at his shoulder anxiously. 

“Hey, up ahead,” Jack pointed to rusty old sign. “A gas station. We should stop there.” Merritt looked back into the rear view to see Danny staring out the window blankly, still clearly shaken. Everyone was.

When they pulled into the gas station, Jack and Merritt agreed to go in and ask for a telephone while Danny and Henley looked for a bathroom out back. The station looked beat down and old, flies swarming around outside and the sign worn over with age. An older lady stood inside smoking a cigarette and looked surprised to see visitors when Jack and Merritt stepped in. 

“Hello ma'am,” Merritt nodded to her. “We were wondering if we could use your telephone for an emergency?”

“What kinda emergency,” she asked with narrowed eyes.

“We need to report a suicide; a young girl...”

“Just goes to show you how cruel this world is. So you need the sheriff then.”

“...Okay. May we please call him?”

“It'll cost ya a buck,” she replied. “And I'm callin' him.”

As the old lady rang up the sheriff, Jack looked in at the display of meats under the counter. There were various cuts of pig, including a pig's entire head with flies swarming around it. The smell wasn't the least bit inviting. The younger man couldn't help himself as he knocked on the glass to make sure the pig wouldn't move. 

“The old mill,” the lady said as she hung up.

“Pardon?”

“The old mill; the sheriff is headed out there and was wonderin' if you kids wouldn't mind driving up there to report this.”

“Yes we goddamned mind,” Danny butted in as he walked through the door. “I'm sorry but how many times do young girls blow their heads off in this shit town?”

“Baby, calm down,” Merritt butted in. “Thank you ma'am; we would be happy to meet him there..” Merritt ushered the boys outside, “Look guys, this won't take long. Once we tell the sheriff, we will be right back on the road again.”

“I'm sorry, but did you call me 'baby' in there,” Danny spoke up in annoyance. Merritt ignored him and got back into the van. 

It took nearly twenty minutes to find the mill. The water supply in the van had run out and everyone looked like they needed to sleep, but Merritt ushered them out once again. “We're almost done with this shit guys.”

“I just wanna go home,” Danny said quietly, arms crossed tightly. 

“We can-we can go home after this, okay,” Merritt sighed.

“Thank you,” Danny nodded. 

“Why isn't he here yet,” Henley asked, sitting down outside the mill. 

“We should just dump the body here and leave,” Jack proposed.

“No,” Henley snapped. “She probably has a family out there that's worried about her.”

“I'm checking out back for the sheriff,” Danny said, storming off. He walked around to the side entrance where there was an opening. Outside, there appeared to be a baby doll strung up with wire. Inside didn't look much different. Danny raised an eyebrow, tempted to go inside before a figure bolted into and out of his line of sight and he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

“Boo,” Merritt chuckled and Danny hit him in the chest. “Hey pumpkin, come back here with the rest of us.”

“Quit giving me pet names. I saw something in there,” he pointed into the mill.

“Spooky,” Merritt joked.

“It's not funny, you asshole,” Danny snapped. “Sorry if I'm just the tiniest bit traumatized by what I've been through today! The least you could do is give me a bre-” Merritt grabbed Danny by the waist and pulled him in closely, pressing their lips together. Danny was surprisingly responsive, gently moaning against the older man's mouth. Merritt growled and pinned Danny against the wall before grabbing under Danny's ass to hoist him up and wrap his leg's around Merritt's waist, never breaking the kiss.

“H-hold on,” Danny panted. “What are you doing?”

Merritt licked a small stripe up Danny's neck, “Life is too short for me not to give you some lovin'” As he was about to resume his makeout session, Merritt heard a noise inside the mill as well. “Hey maybe you aren't just jumpy,” he said, slowly letting Danny back onto the ground. “I'm gonna go take a look around in there, maybe the sheriff's waiting for us inside.”

Merritt went in and told Danny to stay behind, leaving the younger man to unknowingly be watched by whoever it was watching from inside.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College has begun, but I shall continue to contribute to this beautiful fandom! :)

The mill wreaked of decay and feces as Merritt walked in. He covered his nose and reached out to keep track of the wall in the dark room. Aside from the obnoxious creaking of the floor, nothing else seemed to be making sound. The room got darker the further along he walked, and he would be a liar if he said that the mill wasn't the least bit creepy. He soon noticed that the baby doll pinned outside wasn't the only one residing there; they lined the walls and stared at him with dead, unblinking eyes. Merritt went up to one and held a finger up to touch it when something grabbed his shoulder.

“BOO!”

Merritt screamed and turned around to a very amused Daniel Atlas. 

“I got you back, you ass,” he laughed and pushed him playfully. “You find anything at all?” Merritt shook his head. 

“Just these creepy little plastic bastards,” he said, motioning to the morbid collection. Danny shivered dramatically. 

“Gross. Well, since we are alone in here I kinda want to talk to you about what happened outside,” Danny looked down at his shoes shyly and shrugged his shoulders. “Why didn't you ever tell me that you felt that way before?”

“Never really got up the courage, I suppose. That and you're always such a sarcastic little shit when it comes to matters of the heart,” he noticed Danny's eyeroll and chuckled before growing quiet. “I guess with everything that we went through today, I realized just how short life really is; we shouldn't have to hold in our feelings all of the time.” Merritt was taken by surprise when Danny leaned forward and hugged Merritt tightly, burying his face in the crook of the older man's shoulder. 

“That's so beautiful, Merritt...”

“Plus you look hot as hell in those shorts,” Merritt added and Danny punched his shoulder before kissing him passionately. 

“I feel the same way... at least now we might be able to get something out of this crazy, messed up trip,” Danny smiled. “Maybe even...right now while we wait,” he slid down and started undoing Merritt's fly.

“Well this is a nice sur-priiiiise, holy shit,” Merritt propped himself up on the wall behind him, trying his best to ignore the baby dolls watching them. 

When Danny finished, he stood up and wiped his mouth off on his shirt. “There, I knew my big mouth could be your friend when it wanted to be. Now let's get out of this creepy-” The sound of scurrying interrupted him and Danny jumped. “What was that!?”

“What y'all doin' here,” a small voice said in the darkness. Merritt held Danny close and squinted his eyes to make out the form of a small child squatting down with his eyes trained on them; he looked as though he hadn't taken a shower in months, teeth jutting out like he'd never seen a tooth brush. “This my home, here.”

“We were actually told to meet the sheriff here,” Danny said. “Do you know where he is?”

“He ain't coming,” the boy said surely and stood up, going about his business.

“Wait, what? What do you mean; where is he?”

“Home. Gettin' drunk,” the boy shrugged. Danny was annoyed, grabbing Merritt by the shirt and pulling them out of the mill. 

“We are leaving the body here Henley,” Danny said, ready to climb in the van again.

“No we aren't Danny,” Jack said. “I agree with Henley; the girl needs to be reported. She has family somewhere...”

“Why should I care; I never even had a family,” everyone went silent as Danny played with the fabric of his shorts nervously. “F-fine, you guys stay here and watch the body, but I'm going somewhere to find a phone and telling the sheriff to hurry his ass up.” Danny stormed off with Merritt at his heels. They walked down a back road until they found what looked like an abandoned house; the upkeep was nonexistent, but Danny headed straight for it.

“I just want this nightmare to be over,” Danny told Merritt, squeezing his hand. “No matter what I have to do at this point. Maybe when we get back we could go.. on..a real date..maybe?” It was hard to hide the small blush rising on his face.

“I think I could be down for that,” Merritt grinned. “I could show you off to everyone at the drive-in theater.” Danny elbowed him and laughed. They finally reached the porch and Danny rang the doorbell. “It smells like something died; I wonder if anyone even lives here,” Merritt whispered, scrunching up his face. Danny rang the doorbell again and heard the sound of wheels inside on the hardwood floor. 

“I'm comin', I'm comin,” a raspy voice answered. An old man in a wheel chair approached the front door, cane in hand. There was a common theme of looking like you hadn't bathed in months going on in this town. Danny took notice of the fact that the man had no legs and couldn't help but feel bad despite the snarl on the man's face. “What do you people want around here?”

“We were wondering if we could use your phone; we need to make a call to the sheriff and report something,” Merritt spoke up, standing in front of Danny as much as he could. 

“He can,” the old man said, pointing at Danny. “You stay out here and wait.” Merritt held up his hands in defense.

“Yes sir,” Merritt said, letting Danny go in. He watched through the screen door as the man in the wheelchair led Danny out of view. Danny was a big boy and could take care of himself, but it didn't stop Merritt from worrying. 

“Just right around here,” the man said harshly. “And be quick about it,try not to track mud on my carpets.” Danny nodded and began to dial the sheriff. He explained the situation and that the body was at the old mill. The man on the phone acted as if this case was news to him and he hadn't been informed of it a mere hour before. When Danny hung up, he heard the old man calling for help in the other room. Danny followed the voice to the bathroom, where the man was emptying out his waste bag on the bathroom floor. 

“Could I bother you for a little help; I need to get back in my chair,” the man reached his arms up and Danny attempted to get him up off of the floor. Danny positioned his feet apart on the floor and mustered all of his strength to no avail. He could feel the man groping at Danny's ass, but continued to pull.

“Look, I need you to try and help me out; you're dead weight right now, and I can't lift you,” Danny panted. From the light of the door, Danny didn't notice that they were not alone in the house. A figure passed by the doorway as Danny continued to struggle. When the man was in his chair, Danny thanked him and headed for the main door to find that Merritt wasn't still standing outside.


	3. Chapter 3

After Danny had been in the old man's house for a good ten minutes, Merritt decided to go in and make sure he was okay; a call to the sheriff couldn't be this difficult. He shut the door quietly behind him and made his way down the hallway, away from the bathroom that Danny had been currently inside of. Merritt spotted a telephone in the hallway and began to worry; that was when he noticed a light flickering at the end of the hall and followed it. 

Merritt peered into the room to see an old black-and-white cartoon playing on a small television in the corner. An animated sheep bounced happily through a field on the screen, no sound playing. “Danny,” he quietly called out. “Where are you?”

Suddenly, a sharp pain rang out in his skull as he was hit over the head. Merritt immediately lost consciousness after that, his body dragged across the floor and into his assailant's chamber. The sound of a sliding door being slammed jolted Danny as he had just finished helping the old man.

“Merritt,” he called out and left the bathroom as fast as he could. The old man merely sat in his chair with a grin on his face as he watched Danny leave. 

Back at the mill, the sheriff's car had finally arrived. A tough, dirty looking man in a uniform stepped out and spit the last of his chew on the ground. He approached Jack and Henley with a smile on his face and asked where the body was. Henley refused to go near it, so Jack led the sheriff over to their van. Blood splatter littered the back seat and the sheriff admired it in awe.

“Oh yeah, she's dead,” he said as though it weren't obvious.

“Yes...we were wondering what we're supposed to do with her,” Jack said. “We kinda have somewhere to be, but we didn't want to leave her on the side of the road.”

“Well first thing's first; we gotta wrap this honey up,” the sheriff went back to his car and pulled out plastic wrap. He motioned for Jack to get in the van, “I need your help bucko, the work ain't gonna do itself.” Jack hesitantly got in and began helping wrap the girl up, doing his best to look away and not to throw up. 

“What's the matter with you? Back in my day when I was a young patrolman, this was my favorite part of the job,” the sheriff accentuated his statement by lightly grabbing the dead girl's breast and chuckling at Jack. Jack looked away in disgust and wrapped more quickly. When the body was finally wrapped, the sheriff and Jack hauled it into the trunk of the patrol car. 

“This is all wrong,” Henley said sadly to herself.

Before the sheriff left, he held a hand up in salute, “Protect and serve, that's what we do.” Then he was gone. 

Meanwhile, Danny was searching the house calling out for Merritt. The old man wheeled out with a snarl on his face, “ What are you doin' boy?”

“I can't find my friend,” Danny ran a hand through his hair, speaking quickly. “I need to find him.”

“Well he's not in my house, so get your ass back home and leave me be.” Danny left without a fight, mind racing. He walked through the woods yelling out Merritt's name.

“He probably went back to the van,” Danny reasoned, though it seemed unlikely. As he suspected, it was only Henley and Jack back at the mill; they looked as though they needed twenty hours of sleep and a hug. “The sheriff said he's on his way,” Danny said.

“The sheriff came,” Henley said blankly. “He took the body.” Danny looked at her in confusion.

“Well, where's Merritt?”

“We thought he was with you,” Jack looked up at Danny. Danny shook his head and started walking immediately back toward the woods. 

“Merritt! Merritt!” Danny was beginning to panic. Henley and Jack followed after him. Danny stepped cautiously through high grass and mud, disgusted by all of it. At a second glance, he noticed something odd on the ground and knelt down, picking it up and examining it.

“What is that,” Henley asked, walking up beside him to see it. “Oh my god, that's someone's fucking teeth, isn't it!” Jack tried to calm her down and rubbed her shoulders, but she wasn't having it. “We need to go and get out of this horrible place.”

“We can't leave Merritt,” Danny stood back up and continued walking. “I will meet you guys back at the van when I find him.” He followed the trail back to the old man's house to find him sitting out on the porch, small dog in his lap. Danny mapped out his options and decided to go with the indirect approach; he snuck around the back of the house to another entrance. “I know you're in here Merr,” Danny sighed, slowly making his way back inside. A foul odor led him into what appeared to be a slaughtering room; pigs and chickens walked around on the floor while others were already skinned and hanging from the ceiling. Danny covered his nose, feeling nauseous. 

“Merritt,” he called again quietly. He walked over to a small refrigerator and opened it, releasing a smell worse than before. The shelves were lined with strange looking jars; Danny assumed they contained other parts of the animals, but wasn't ready to stay and check. He closed the door to the fridge a bit too hard and a jar sitting on the top of it fell, shattering to pieces. “Shit!” Danny clamped a hand over his own mouth to keep quiet, but could already hear the tell-tale sound of wheels against the hardwood floor. He ran out of the room and into the hall to find the old man already waiting for him.

“What the hell are you doing in my house,” the man shouted

“Look, I'm just looking for my fri-”

“ Don't sass me, you little shit,” he rolled closer to Danny and grabbed his arm. “You're so dead you don't even know it.” The hand that wasn't clinging to Danny held the man's walking stick, and he proceeded to beat it on the floor aggressively. 

“What are you talking about,” Danny cried, ripping his arm from the man's surprisingly strong hand. “Where is my friend!?”

At that very moment, Danny found himself face to face with true terror; a man in a leather mask burst in, chainsaw in hand and started up. Danny screamed and began to run the other way. The old man swung the walking stick into Danny's knee and he hit the floor, but got up quickly and kept moving. The sound of the chainsaw was fast-approaching as Danny ran to the next room and slammed the door shut, holding it there and yelling for help. His eyes searched the room for something to hold the door, but he was torn from his thoughts when the chainsaw was shoved through the door mere inches from Danny's face. “Fuck it,” he yelled and took off as fast as he could. He flung the screen door open and headed out through the yard. He dodged laundry that had been hung out to dry; the man with the chainsaw still following him, ripping through the sheets. Danny could hear the creature making inhuman noises that made his hair stand on end. Something told him that Merritt was back at that house; in there with that horrible creature, and he needed to think of something fast.

The sun was nearly down when he made it back to the van, hopping in and shoving the key into the ignition. “Hey Danny, what's going on,” Jack asked as he watched Danny hyperventilate. Tears started to run down Danny's face, the van not showing a hint of starting back up. 

“ God dammit, start! Please,” Danny sobbed. He jumped when the sheriff appeared outside the van, but relief washed over him when he realized who it was. “Please sir, please you have to help me! My friend-my friend is in that house with that thing-”

“Whoa baby, just slow down,” the sheriff rested his hand on Danny's shoulder as the young man sobbed harder. “What's wrong with your car here?”

“Nothing-I just want our friend back,” Danny said, speaking rapidly. The sheriff was running his hand through Danny's hair as he shone his flashlight into the van. On the dashboard was a small ashtray with a blunt in it. Danny knew it was Merritt's, his eyes going wide when the sheriff shot him an accusing look.

“You kids doing drugs,” the man asked, holding the blunt up to Danny's face, who cried harder and shook his head. “I smell some bullshit... out of the car,” he ordered.

“It's not ours; it isn't our van,” Jack interjected, shaking. 

“I SAID OUT!” 

The three of them hesitantly got out of the van. At this point, Henley had started to cry. Danny rubbed at his shoulders, unable to shake the image of the man with the chainsaw from his head. And Merritt was out there somewhere, alone and waiting for help. Or dead. Danny tried to stop thinking.

“All three of you, on the ground! Face down!” They looked at each other in disbelief before following orders. The sheriff reached into each of their back pockets to remove their ID's. Danny was biting his lip until it bled, anger welling up inside of him.

“You have to fucking help us,” he yelled. “That thing is gonna kill him,” he began rambling and shaking his head, sniffling as his face lay in the dirt. 

“Who's killing who,” the sheriff knelt down close to Danny and admired the way the younger boy looked helpless.

“I DON'T KNOW; SOME GUY WITH A FUCKING CHAINSAW,” he wailed. “My-my friend, please...” He started moving his body up but the sheriff held him down with a hand on the small of his back.

“You get your sweet little ass back in the dirt or I will have to use force,” the sheriff spit on the ground by Danny's face and the boy clenched his fists. “You know what I think? I think your boyfriend shot that little girl and then ran off.”

Danny pushed himself up onto his elbows and spit back, “He did not! I'm telling you there's a fucking guy with a-” 

Gunshots rang out as bullets were fired mere inches from Danny's head to scare him. They all began to scream then. “HELP, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE,” Henley sobbed.

“You kids better get yourselves together before I do it for you,” the sheriff adjusted his belt pointedly.

“Why won't you listen to him!”

“Get on your feet,” Jack felt himself being pulled up by the back of his shirt. He was pulled to the side and the sheriff held his gun to him. “What really happened inside that van.”

Jack took a deep breath, “We already told you. We picked her up, and she was really upset. She did it to herself...”

“I need you to show me how she did it,” he pulled Jack into the van, leaving Danny and Henley lying in the dirt. 

“Wh-what? I don't-”

“You're gonna sit where she sat, and you're gonna show me.” Jack sat in the back seat, diagonally from the hole in the rear window. “Fucking liar; that don't add up for me. I want you to show me exactly how she did it, now scoot over.” Jack looked next to him on the seat, skin and hair still remaining there from the act. “Come on now, you can't be afraid of a little blood.”

Slowly, Jack slid over and was handed the gun. He began shaking his head, lip quivering. 

“Show me.”

“No.”

“SHOW ME!”

“NO,” Jack pointed the gun at the sheriff, arm shaking and eyes focused. “You fucking bastard!”

“Jack, what are you doing,” Danny yelled from outside, beating on the window of the van. “Jack, don't!”

“KILL HIM JACK,” Henley yelled from the other side. 

“PULL THE TRIGGER, YOU COWARD! YOU DON'T HAVE THE BALLS,” the sheriff remained resolute.

Jack pulled the trigger. 

“Murderer,” the sheriff said matter-of-factly. Jack just stared in shock at the empty gun; there had been no bullets. A loaded gun was pointed at him then, and he was pulled from the van. Danny and Henley watched as Jack was put into a police car and taken away at gunpoint. The night air grew colder, and Henley pulled Danny close.

“What's gonna happen to Jack,” she cried. She buried her face into Danny's shoulder. Danny tried his best to stop trembling, hoping to reassure Henley. He couldn't.


	4. Chapter 4

“That house,” Henley asked as she and Danny snuck across the lawn toward the old man’s home. “Danny, I don’t think this is a very good idea; are you sure Merritt is in there?”

 

“Where else would he have gone, Hen? I was on the phone and he was waiting outside; believe me, he wouldn’t have just left me. That man with the chainsaw is in this house, and I know he has him.” The two of them crept around back, the moon full and shining above their heads. Henley had a tight hold on Danny’s hand, afraid that they would get separated in the dark. 

 

“Okay Henley, I want you to do something for me; there is a closet two doors down to the right when we go through the back door...I want you to get into it and hide while I find Merritt. Can you do that?”

 

Henley gripped onto Danny’s hand, “I-I don’t know, what if you don’t c-come back? What about Jack?”

 

“Look, I don’t know exactly what’s going on in this fucked up town, but something tells me there is a connection between all of these people. The sheriff, the old man, the man in the mask...everyone here is up to something. Hide in the closet, and I swear to you I will be back for you. Don’t come out for any reason,” he put his hands on Henley’s shoulders and nodded to her. “You’re my best friend, okay?”

 

Henley nodded back with tears in her eyes and followed him into the house, immediately doing as she had been told. Danny hadn’t thought much further than getting into the house, but he continued down the hallway until he heard the sound of a TV crackling. He poked his head into the room slowly and saw an old black and white cartoon of a lamb playing in a field. He quirked his eyebrow in confusion at the empty room, getting a chill and looking behind him suddenly. No other sounds could be heard in the house; other than the television, it was dead silent. 

It was hard to navigate through the darkness, and Danny had to slide his hand across the wall in order not to bump into anything. He could feel the crinkled wallpaper beneath the tips of his fingers. As he made it to the end of the hall, the feeling of the wallpaper ended and was replaced with a cold steel, which made Danny pull his hand away quickly. Danny squinted and ran his fingers over what appeared to be steel door, testing it with his hands and finding that it slid open from the side. Red flags were going off in Danny’s head, but he knew that this was the most likely place that would give him answers. Slowly he slid the door open and felt a cold chill against his body as he walked in. It smelled like like something had died and Danny covered his face to keep from throwing up and letting his guard down. He descended down a short flight of stairs into the basement. There were jars lining the shelves and tools hung up against the walls; Danny knew he was in the right place to find Merritt, but couldn’t see him anywhere. 

 

On a small table was a pair of scissors and sewing equipment. Judging by the jars surrounding him, he highly doubted that the man was sewing a quilt. Danny wrapped his arms around himself tightly, beginning to shake. He was tempted to just call out for Merritt; Merritt would run to him and take him into his arms, and they would get as far away from this hell as possible. They would go on a real date and Danny would finally be happy. He also didn’t want to die, so he opted out of yelling. 

 

Henley remained in the closet, playing with a strand of her hair with shaky hands. The silence was unnerving; she kept thinking that at any moment the door would open and she would get her head chopped off. She tasted blood from where she had been worrying her lip between her teeth. Footsteps outside the door snapped her out of her thought; slow heavy footprints that she knew didn’t belong to Danny. Oh god, she thought. Danny is still out there. There was no way to warn her friend of the danger heading his way and prayed that Danny would hear it coming. 

 

Back in the basement, a small whimper from around the corner caught Danny’s attention, it sounded pained and tired and Danny followed it quickly. He padded around the corner. When he saw it, he let out a quiet cry and covered his face. It was Jack, he was suspended in the air by nothing more than a hook in his back. He let out a pained sob every time his body moved in the slightest. Danny felt tears running down his face. “J-Jack? Can you hear me?”

 

“D-Danny,” he choked. “Danny I-I can’t do this…” Danny was over to him in a second, wrapping his arms around Jack’s legs.

 

“I’m gonna lift you up,” Danny sobbed. “I’m gonna get you out of this Jack.” He cried out as he used all his strength to raise Jack up slightly, slipping and hearing Jack’s scream as the hook slammed back into him.

 

“Danny D-Danny kill me,” Jack muttered. “Danny kill me please.” Danny shook his head rapidly.

 

“No no no no…”

 

“Danny please do this for me…” Jack gestured to the table on the other side of the room where a butcher knife lay. “Use that.”

 

“I can’t I can’t,” Danny sobbed. The sound of a door being closed upstairs made Danny jump.

 

“Quickly Danny...you can still make it,” Jack nodded. “This is all I want.” Hearing Jack say that, Danny went over to the table hesitantly and grabbed the knife, hyperventilating and looking up at Jack, who had his eyes closed. Danny walked over to him and hugged his bottom half.

 

“I’m so sorry Jack; I don’t want to do this,” Danny held the knife up above his head and between his hands. He plunged it quickly into Jack’s chest, who went limp. Danny dropped the knife and collapsed onto the floor. “Someone help,” he whimpered. “Please god help me.” Jack was dead and Merritt was still missing, yet Danny couldn’t bring himself to move.

 

The basement door slid open, immediately getting Danny to stumble onto his feet. Hard, heavy footsteps came around the corner before he could hide. It was the large, looming man with the leather mask. The man tilted his head as he looked at Danny and walked closer, Danny frozen in place in shock. The man reached out and ran a gloved hand over the side of Danny’s face, smearing a bit of blood on his cheek. The hand slid down Danny’s throat and slowly pulled Danny’s shirt down passed his shoulder to see the skin there. The young man’s eyes were closed tightly, hoping to wake up from his nightmare. He thought of Merritt and of the few kisses he was able to share with him; he thought of Merritt telling him that life was too short not to love him. Danny opened his eyes to the beast in front of him, taking the knife he had been forced to kill his friend with and driving it into its stomach. The beast screamed inhumanly; Danny took off running. He hurried to the closet, “We have to go, come on!” Danny grabbed Henley’s arm and pulled her out of the house. The chainsaw could be heard starting up inside.

 

“You didn’t find Merritt,” Henley asked, panting.

 

“No, but I found Jack. H-he’s dead Henley,” Henley stopped running, frozen in place. “Henley we can’t stop now, we have to go.”

 

“He’s dead,” she said in a hollow voice. 

 

“We have to go,” Danny repeated sternly. “We can mourn later Hen…”

 

“I’m pregnant,” she covered her eyes. “H-he can’t be...he can’t…” Danny looked at her sadly but tugged her arm again. 

 

“We need to get you away from here. C’mon maybe we can make it to town but you have to work with me here.” The chainsaw got closer and Danny could make out the shape of the man approaching. As he appeared under the light of the moon, Danny began making out more details. The man was no longer wearing the mask he had been before. 

 

He appeared to be wearing Merritt’s face.

Danny felt his heart being ripped in half. He also felt a rage that ignited inside of him. This wasn't over.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is attempted non-con in this chapter, but it is short. Be advised.

“Danny come on,” Henley shouted and pulled Danny with her toward the lights of a small trailer they had stumbled across. Danny kept glancing behind him in disbelief; that thing had had Merritt’s face, he was sure of it. His ears were ringing, the only sound he could hear was panting coming from both himself and Henley. “W-we’ll ask these people for help, okay Danny? We need to get out of here-”

 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Hen; every time we ask someone for help they end up b-being crazy and trying to kill us. I c-can’t breathe Henley…” Henley pulled Danny close and ran a hand through his hair. 

 

“Danny we need to be reasonable; would you rather go inside and risk it or stay out here to die?”

 

“I don’t know the answer to that question anymore…” To his surprise, Henley slapped him. 

 

“Don’t you talk like that Daniel Atlas, you still have someone who needs you and happens to care about you,” she yelled. “I know you’ve lost your friends, but so have I! You’re going to follow me into this trailer and we are going to get the fuck out of here. Together.”

 

Danny looked at her in awe before nodding slowly and doing what she said. 

 

The trailer was occupied by two women. One was older, possibly in her seventies, knitting in a rocking chair and listening to the radio. There was a younger woman there too, a sickly ill-looking woman carrying around a baby and not acknowledging the two guests after they had sat down. The older woman looked up from her needle to admire them.

 

“What brings such sweet young faces around here at this time of night,” she asked, cheery and casual. “You two honeymooning or something? Would you like some dinner?”

 

“No we’re o-”

 

“Gladys, fetch this cuties some dinner,” she yelled at the younger woman. Gladys looked in and stared at the two of them hollowly before nodding and going into the kitchen. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

 

“ Well ma’am, some awful things have happened to us tonight and we were wondering if you could help us,” Danny said. His legs were pressed tightly together and his hand was white from gripping the arm of the couch. 

 

“Terrible things? Round here,” she chuckled. “Never heard of such a thing. It’s pretty quiet around these parts.”

 

“There’s a man,” Danny started. “With a ch-”

 

“Dinner’s ready,” Gladys smiled weakly as she came into the room and handed both Danny and Henley a bowl of soup. “Enjoy.” Henley nodded to her in appreciation and looked over at the crib set up in the corner of the living room. 

 

“You have a very cute baby,” Henley smiled, thinking idly about the other life growing inside of her own body. Gladys merely smiled and picked the baby from the crib, carrying it back into the kitchen with her. Henley looked down at the soup and swirled her spoon in it, questioning if she should eat it; she was starving but Danny had made a point when he said that everyone around there had tried to kill them. It all felt like one long nightmare.

 

“What were you saying about these terrible things,” the old woman asked again. “ Something about a man?”

 

“A man with a chainsaw,” Danny nodded. “There is a man with a chainsaw living not far from here and he tried to kill us. There is an old man there too with no legs who was working with him..”

 

“Slow down, a man with a chainsaw; I know you’re talkin’ bout that sweet boy Beau. He was just trying to make friends with you is all, never wanted to hurt a fly in his life,” the lady smiled and began to knit again. 

 

“I’m sorry, what did you say?! Lady, he murdered two of my friends tonight and tried to keep me in his basement!”

 

“Not surprising,” she smirked. “You are pretty cute, and Beau has always been a romantic; he’s just trying to get your attention. It’s not like you ain’t looking for it wearing those shorts.”

 

Danny’s mouth was open in disbelief before he went off the deep end. “I don’t need this fucking shit anymore,” Danny yelled, standing up abruptly and throwing the bowl of soup across the room, shattering it against the wall. “What the fuck is wrong with you people!? Two people have DIED tonight and no one will be a normal fucking human being!” He grabbed a small ceramic cat off the table and threw it. Gladys came into the living space with a crying baby and shot Danny a warning look.

 

“I wouldn’t make a mess if I were you, we don’t need anymore of your kind around here disrupting our peaceful living..”

 

“Danny calm down,” Henley warned when Danny picked up a photo frame to throw. Danny glanced at Henley and lowered the frame, looking at it. In the photo was a girl that looked extremely familiar, alongside what looked to be her parents, a brother, and a baby. She had short blond hair and brown eyes and….

 

“The girl from the van.”

 

“What,” Henley asked quietly.

 

“The girl from the van,” Danny handed Henley the frame and shot his eyes toward Gladys. “That’s not your baby,” he gasped. 

 

“I’m calling the sheriff,” Gladys picked up the phone and began to dial as Danny grabbed Henley’s arm and they were once again on the run. That girl, she had talked about escaping from a bad man. Those women had known about the man with the chainsaw, everything was connected. They had even known his name. The thought that he may have been trying to court Danny was terrifying. Was that why he had taken Merritt’s face; had he been spying on them in the mill? 

 

“Danny I can’t run anymore,” Henley panted. “We are all out of options, you were right. The sheriff will be here any minute and we have no place to run. Maybe we should just give up.”

 

“No,” Danny yelled. “What happened to ‘we will make it out of here together’!? We have survived this long and it isn’t right just to throw in the towel now; that isn’t what Merritt and Jack would have wanted. I need you too Henley...and you have someone else who needs you to stay strong,” Danny looked down at Henley’s stomach and she shifted her feet in defeat. 

 

They stood there for a long quiet moment before Henley nodded, “You’re right,” she gave a small smile to Danny. 

 

“Let’s go h-” 

 

A loud gunshot rang out and Henley fell at Danny’s feet. Another shot followed and Danny fell a sharp deafening pain in his right arm as he fell to the ground beside her. He felt himself gasping for breath, Henley was breathing beside him and he thanked god that she was alive. The relief ended when a hand closed down over his throat and held him down.

 

“You are a resilient little bitch, aren’t ya,” the sheriff growled, the other hand fisting in Danny’s hair. “We really need to do somethin’ about that because now you’re starting to get a little too wild for the locals.” Danny thrashed under the man’s hold, kicking his legs and fighting. “Whew, you know how excited it makes me seeing you squirm like this? Maybe I should tame you myself.” 

 

“Fuck you,” Danny spit into the man’s face and was rewarded with a hard slap to his. It was hard enough to disorient him for a few moments, but right when he felt his shirt being torn he snapped back into reality. 

 

“Now hold still…”

In a split second, Danny’s knee shot up and into the sheriff’s groin. Danny took the opportunity to slam his head up into the other man’s as hard as he could, pushing him off and stumbling up.“GO TO HELL!” He began kicking him, laughing and crying hysterically.

 

A small pinch in his arm caused Danny to stop. “Time to go to sleep now,” he heard a woman’s voice say before his eyelids became heavy and he drifted from consciousness. 

 

When Danny woke up, he was tied up and chained to the ceiling in a room he had never seen before. It wreaked entirely of raw meat and piss and Danny noticed that there was blood on the floor under him. He heard the sound of pigs and realized he was in a slaughterhouse. His hands twisted to work at the bindings around his wrists to no avail. He glanced around the room and yelped when he realized he wasn’t alone, a dark figure in the corner was staring at him. “P-please let me go, I just wanna go home,” Danny sobbed. The figure limped up and over to him, it’s face shrouded in a mask of sorts covering all but his eyes. Danny could swear that the eyes were wet with tears. “Please don’t hurt me..”

 

The figure reached out a shaky hand toward Danny’s face, who closed his eyes and cried harder. It made a muffled noise from under the mask. It sounded familiar.

 

“M-merritt?”

 

The figure nodded,shoulders trembling. His hand caressed the side of Danny’s face. He tried to speak again, it came out muffled but Danny listened closely to hear his words.

 

“So beautiful,” Merritt said.Danny cried and shook his head.

 

“What did they do to you,” Danny asked. “Are you okay?”

 

“D-dyin,” he mumbled. “L-love you..”

 

“I love you too,” Danny nodded frantically. “I love you so much Merritt..I don’t want to live without you.” Merritt shook his head.

 

“Live.” 

 

The door slid open and Danny saw the man with the chainsaw and Merritt’s face. Merritt went back into his dark corner as if on cue. Danny hung there helpless, awaiting his fate.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the short chapter, between school, work, and my alcoholic mother I haven't gotten much done recently. Comments and feedback are appreciated; like I said, its hard to progress a story correctly when there's no time to sit down and think. Thank you guys so much for reading though and I plan to finish this one by Halloween. ^_^

Danny jerked his wrists when the hulking figure approached. It ran a hand down the side of its, Merritt’s, face and tilted its head; it was as if it were trying to show Danny what it looked like now and awaited his response. Danny resisted the urge to throw up looking at it, but knew if he didn’t play along he wouldn’t at least get unchained from the ceiling. The whole place smelled of urine and vomit; Danny wondered how many people had suffered before he and his friends had. He took a few shaky breaths before going for it.  
“Wow, you look..so handsome,” Danny trembled, working up a tiny smile. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before.” This made the creature happy, and it made a small noise, moving closer to Danny and placing its hands on his sides. Danny flinched and desperately tried to think back and remember what the old lady had said about him. His name was Beau! “B-Beau, do you want me?” Danny kept willing tears away from his face,doing his best to maintain his calm. “I wish I could touch your face, but-” Danny gently shook his wrists, rattling the chains that held him up. The creature just continued running his hands slowly up and down along Danny’s sides, making the young man shiver. His eyes shot back to Merritt in the dark corner, watching Danny with an empty expression. Danny imagined his lover didn’t have much time left.  
“Please let me down,” Danny said quietly. “Then we can have some real fun,” he forced a seductive smile onto his face and winked at the hideous being in front of him. “You wanna play with me, Beau?” The creature made an animalistic noise that made Danny jump and nodded, unfastening Danny’s restraints. Immediately, his wrist was grabbed and Beau pulled Danny to him. “S-s-see, isn’t this better?” The monster ran his hand through Danny’s hair as gently as he could before his demeanor snapped and he threw Danny onto the floor. He felt a hand running slowly up both of his legs, from his ankles to below his shorts as he stared down at the floor.  
    Danny’s eyes flitted around the room. Hammer. Nails. Chainsaw. He needed to just crawl over to the table and grab the hammer, but the monster was on him now. The face is wore was pressed against the back of Danny’s neck, and Danny smelled something familiar. Merritt’s face still smelt of his cologne that he had gotten the opportunity to take in during their makeout session. Danny reached back and clutched the skin, ripping the mask off and whipping it across the room, screaming. The creature wailed, grabbing Danny by the hair and pulling him off the floor, throwing him over the cutting table. Danny hit the floor hard and fumbled up, grabbing the hammer and pointed it at the monster, as if challenging it to come closer.  
    “Come on motherfucker, try me,” he yelled. “I’ve got nothing to lose..” Right when Beau was about to strike, he was tackled to the floor by Merritt. Merritt groaned behind mask.  
    “Get out,” Merritt muffled. “ Run Danny.” Beau grabbed Merritt and flung him into the wall, moving quickly toward his chainsaw. Danny sprinted, throwing the hammer down and getting to the chainsaw first. He held it up and tried his best to turn it on, which proved to be difficult with his malnourishment throughout this whole trip. Beau reached for Danny’s arm and the younger man hit him over the head with the inactive chainsaw, dropping it and running over to Merritt.  
    “Get up, we gotta go,” Danny helped Merritt up and grabbed his hand. “We are getting that date if it kills us, which it might.” Merritt smiled sadly behind the mask and nodded, getting up and running out of the slaughterhouse.  
    “Jack,” Merritt mumbled. Danny shook his head.  
    “Henley?”  
    Danny stopped, “Oh god, where’s henley!? We-we gotta go back” Danny heard the chainsaw inside the slaughterhouse and shook his head. “I’m almost certain she wasn’t in there…”  
    “Police,” Merritt mumbled.  
    “No, they are all fucked up here..”  
    “Real police, out of town. F-find Henley,” Merritt motioned to a car on the lawn and Danny understood. They climbed in and Danny began to hotwire as fast as he could, his hand practically vibrating. A hand beat the driver’s side window, and Danny dropped the wires. The sheriff stood outside with his gun pointed toward them. “Get out of the car babydoll, we’re taking a trip down to the station.” Danny slowly rolled down his window and raised an eyebrow.  
    “What if I make you a little deal,” Danny said. “I let you do whatever you want to me and you tell me where our friend Henley is.”  
    “The redhead,” the sheriff asked. “I can do that.” Danny smirked and climbed out of the car, running his tongue across the front of his teeth. Merritt raised an eyebrow, watching as Danny unbuttoned his own shorts and slid them off. “You can have me right up against this car,” he purred. “I’ve got nothing to lose.” The sheriff pushed Danny against the car.  
    “You think I’m going to fall for your pathetic little trick,” the sheriff snapped, backhanding Danny to the ground. Danny spit out a tooth into the mud and tried to calm the panic attack he felt rising from his gut. The sheriff kicked him in the stomach when he had rolled onto his side. “Get up!”  
    Merritt watched from the car, feeling helpless as his lover was beaten. He looked down to where Danny had been hotwiring and slowly inched over to the driver’s seat. “Come on fucker…” He worked at the wires as quickly as he could. Danny glanced up at him from the ground and tapped his nose as a signal before crawling in front of the car. The sheriff pinned Danny down and beat on him until Danny’s face was smeared in blood.  
“You wanna come into my town and try to get the best of me?! You’re gonna play by my rules!” Danny coughed up blood and just began to laugh. “The fuck are you laughing at, bitch?”  
“You stupid redneck,” Danny laughed hysterically, entire body crying out in pain. In one final exertion, he slammed his head against the older man’s and began kicking him wildly, rolling away and crawling out from in front of the car. At that moment, there was a spark and the engine roared. “NOW,” Danny cried out and Merritt slammed on the gas. Danny laughed harder at the thump of the sheriff under the wheels, eyes closed and body covered in mud.  
Merritt got out of the car and limped over to Danny, who reached for him and pulled him in for a tight hug. “Well that was only a minor bump in the road,” Merritt chuckled. “Are you okay?”  Danny began to cry, his laughs becoming sobs. Merritt wiped at the blood on Danny’s face and held him close for a long couple of minutes. “Let’s go find Henley.”


End file.
